1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to supporting containers of mobile plants, flowers and trees, and more particularly to retarding and reducing damage to carpet, rug, mat, and floor substrata due to compressive loads and formation of moisture, fungus or mildew on substrata under the plant or tree containers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known that many types of containers for holding various flowers, plants, and trees are used when desiring mobility of these decorative and functional growths from their natural growing places. When plants flowers and trees are removed from their natural habitat for decorative, functional or growing purposes, soil and moisture must be maintained around the roots. Various mobile containers of numerous designs are employed to accomplish preservation of the species. These devices are designed to hold and contain the plant and tree roots, soil, and moisture while the plants or trees grow or are used for esthetic display in homes or buildings. Many artificial plants and trees also use root containers to simulate growth and display the natural state.
Plant and tree containers of various shapes such as round, oval and rectangles are common. Some mobile containers with holes for root expansion, legs, wheels, circular supports have been used for many years. Plant containers have been designed to be supported from walls and ceilings or overhangs to achieve desired results of presentation. This type of suspended support removes problems that containers placed on floor, shelf or window sill levels relating to weight distribution and formation of moisture or mildew on floors, floor coverings, or other substrata supports. However, in many instances, wall or ceiling supports are not practical or desired. Some plant stands elevate the plant containers from substrata or floors providing esthetic display and ornamental features. But these elevated designs may provide problems by exerting compressive force from their few support surfaces residing on substrata.
The weight of plant containers when placed on carpets or resilient floor surfaces causes compression and distortion of these substrata. In many cases the container compressive force transfers to carpets or rugs and then to their under pads and compresses these functional and protective coverings beyond recovery after removal of the container. If four or less supports are used under elevated containers, the weight is concentrated into these contacting areas forcing more compression of carpets and rugs. Containers having wheels that are round or cylindrical shaped have only four point contacts or narrow line contacts that depress on substrata surfaces large loads per area of contact. Containers having flat bottoms readily cause imprints on the carpet and rug surfaces and promote additional problems as discussed below on the substrata. Trivets having three long bar shaped legs contacting the substrata have been available. However, these triangular planar arrangements compress and deform the substrata under the bar supports and also fail structurally by not supporting the central part of the triangular stand.
The commonly used flat bottom moisture trays placed under plant containers distribute the weight over the entire container tray area but do not allow any air flow to the substrate. These trays duplicate many standard pots or containers by compressing the fibers and limiting air flow between the container bottoms and substrata. This promotes attack by mold, mildew and residual moisture to substrata materials.
Live plants and trees in containers need periodic watering for survival. Moisture in ceramic type containers may seep through container wall pores to the outer container surface. Also, moisture from the air condenses on the container outer surface that may be normally cooler than the environment due to water evaporation from the open top of the plant container. If ceramic or plastic trays are used under the container to collect excess water from the container, moisture may accumulate under the bottom of the tray and on the substrata. This promotes destructive mildew, fungus, and/or mold formation on carpets, floors, and surfaces under the plant container.
Deterioration of substrata under plant containers is normally not evident to users, owners, or installers until the damage has progressed to a destructive stage. Only until the substrata under carpets or pads are exposed or carefully examined will the damage show. Many home or business owners using plant containers observe compression on the surface of their floor coverings and do not realize that mold and mildew are forming under the floor coverings due to lack of air circulation under compressive loads. Plant and flower sales people or gardeners skilled in this business are not apprised of the mildew type problems because time is a factor for this to occur and the damage usually is not readily visible. After the damage occurs, the sales people in this business are not responsible.